Her strength: Reflections on nurse home-visiting.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nursing
• Qualitative Research

Background:

• The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a targeted parenting intervention aimed at enhancing maternal and child health outcomes.
• In Canada, NFP is exclusively implemented by public health nurses serving adolescent girls and young women.
• A process evaluation was deemed necessary to explore the experiences of nurses delivering the NFP program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand the experiences of public health nurses delivering the Nurse-Family Partnership program in Canada.
• To capture the multifaceted nature of nursing care provided within this intervention.
• To explore the complexities of clients' lives and the realities of home-visitation nursing.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative process evaluation was conducted.
• Traditional qualitative data analysis was supplemented with a reflective process.
• Found poetry, utilizing direct quotes, was employed to present nurses' experiences evocatively.

Main Results:

• Traditional analysis yielded significant findings and clinical implications.
• Found poetry effectively captured the "heart" of public health nursing practice.
• The poetic display illuminated the complexities of clients' lives and the challenges and joys inherent in home-visitation nursing.

Conclusions:

• Found poetry offers a powerful method for representing the nuanced experiences of nurses in complex care settings.
• This approach enhances the understanding of home-visitation nursing beyond traditional analytical methods.
• The study highlights the value of innovative qualitative methods in capturing the essence of public health nursing practice.